Effect of access time to food on broilers fed on diets of differing nutrient concentration

Abstract

In the 2 experiments on restricted feeding of broilers there were no interactions between dietary nutrient concentration and access time to food on performance or carcass characteristics. In the 1st experiment (winter) food denial for 8 h/d [day] improved food conversion efficiency and increased dressing percentage. Increasing nutrient concentration increased growth rate, decreased food intake and improved conversion efficiency. In the 2nd experiment (summer) food denial for 8 h/d tended to increase growth rate and to improve conversion efficiency, but not significantly. Increasing nutrient concentration had the same effect as in experiment 1. Apparently restricted access to food generally improves food efficiency.